Many Monmouth residents may not know that the town was home to a minor league baseball team during the early part of the 20th century. Local historian Tom Best has dug deep into the archives to learn more about this historic team, and will share what he has found on Thursday, May 24th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Warren County History Museum.
“The Monmouth Browns, believe it or not, was a minor league baseball team that played here in town on South 11th Street, south of basically where East Broadway and South 11th run together, the 700 block down there, the Birchwood Apartments area; that’s where their field was. From 1908 to 1913, we had a minor league baseball team here,” Best said.
The Browns played teams from local cities such as Burlington, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, and even faced off with the Chicago Cubs in 1909 and 1910. Many of the notable Cubs from that time period didn’t suit up for those meetings with the Browns, but Johnny Evers did make an appearance in the 1910 game.
“They usually brought their subs, and they usually pounded the people they played. It would be like 9-0 or something like that, but both of those ball games, the Browns played them pretty tough,” Best stated.
During a time when baseball was considered “America’s Pastime,” the Browns attracted over 20,000 spectators a year and played over 120 games each season.
To learn more about the Monmouth Browns, attend the event at the Warren County History Museum next Thursday at 7:00 p.m or click on the link below:
written by Jackson Kane
